What is pre-ejaculate? Is it sperm or not? Can you start from it? Are the risks high? Is there anything else besides pregnancy? Let's talk about everything in order.
What is pre-ejaculate?
Pre-ejaculate, he is pre-seminal fluid, he is also pre-semen, he is also Cooper's fluid - this is a transparent secret that is released from the penis in a state of sexual arousal. Cooper's glands and Littre's glands, located near the urethra, the same tube through which sperm and urine leave the body of a man, are believed to produce pre-semen.
Amin Gerati, MD, a urologist at Johns Hopkins University, explains that pre-cum prepares the urethra for the passage of semen. The fact is that urine creates an acidic environment, which is very unfriendly for sperm. Preseminal fluid is needed to neutralize residual acidity and make the path safe for the seed. In general, consider precum as an artist opening for the main headliner of the show.
Wait, so are there any sperm in the presemen?
No, they don't live there. But those little tailed sources of trouble can stay in the urethra if your partner ejaculated before sex—especially if he didn't urinate afterwards. And if all the stars align, Cooper's fluid could very well carry live sperm into your vagina.
"Usually this is not enough, " says Dr. Geraghty. "The chance of pregnancy from pre-cum is very low, but it is never zero. "
There is not as much research on this topic as we would like. In 2013, the journal Human Fertility published the results of one of them: scientists tested 40 pre-ejaculate samples provided by 27 men. Live spermatozoa were found in the presemen of 41% of the participants. True, you can’t call them first-class: only 37% were mobile enough to make the journey to the uterus.
The authors of the study noted that all but one of the "samples" contained up to 23 million spermatozoa. Sounds ominous, but it's actually not a number to be feared. In 2010, WHO examined the semen of 1, 953 men who had pregnant women during the past year, and only 2. 5% of these men had less than 23 million sperm in their semen.
And why are we even talking about pre-ejaculate?
The issue of pre-sperm is usually raised in connection with the method of interruption (aka coitus interruptus - just like the name of a dinosaur, isn't it? ), which couples often use for contraception. It consists in the fact that a man pulls his penis out of the vagina right before ejaculation in order to minimize the risk of pregnancy.
As you probably guess, this is not the most effective method of protection: its reliability is only 78% with "normal" (non-ideal) performance. And it certainly doesn't protect against STDs. But precum is hardly to blame for the dubiousness of the "do it yourself" method: there are no studies that could answer the question of when pregnancy occurred due to pre-semen, and when - because of sperm, a drop of which nevertheless ended up in the vagina due toman's carelessness.
So, the problem is not that the pre-semen contains a lot of sperm that you can get pregnant. The point is that it is very difficult to use the interrupt method perfectly. If you're worried about two lines, choose condoms that have a 2% failure rate. Also, make sure your partner puts on the condom before his penis is in your vagina.
If you are going to resort to interruption, then remember: it requires confidence in the lover. Do you know for sure that he is in control of himself and will always follow the rules that you have established together? Discuss emergency contraception: do not forget that it is more expensive than condoms, and if interruption is chosen from the economy, then you can get into trouble.
And, of course, there are STDs. If you both have been tested and do not have unprotected sex with other people, then you have done everything to avoid such diseases. But if these two points are not met, it must be taken into account: without barrier contraception, it is very easy to pick up something unpleasant.
And infection occurs regardless of ejaculation. For example, gonorrhea and chlamydia often have a discharge from the genital tract that can transmit infection, and for some STDs, skin-to-skin contact is sufficient. Condoms will not protect against the latter, but they help reduce the number of contacts.
Well, let's sum up. Precum is a pretty interesting thing that serves a specific purpose. Science still cannot confidently answer the question of how great the risk of becoming pregnant is because of him, but it does not matter. The bottom line is that if you rely on the interruption method and don't use condoms, you put yourself at risk of pregnancy and STDs. If this thought scares you, then discuss it with your doctor: he will help you choose the means of protection that best suit your lifestyle.